Chapter 291: Chapter 288: Just Because You Are My Woman (Part 1)

His hand clenched. Watching his mother, who had always longed for grandchildren, speak to him with red-rimmed eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to say no, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Fine. Three years."

He answered, his voice hoarse.

Mrs. Ellsworth forced a smile and handed the bowl to him again. "Eat. After you eat, you’ll still be Ethan Ellsworth, the star loved by countless fans. You have to keep living, live well. Don’t let her see you in this ghastly state and be unable to rest easy."

He took it with both hands and started to eat.

He finished quickly and handed the empty bowl to Mrs. Ellsworth.

She patted his shoulder. "My son, you must remember, you are Ethan Ellsworth. You are the pride of our Ellsworth Family. My son doesn’t just act and sing; he can also manage a company."

He stood there, suddenly feeling like a terrible son. No matter how much pain he was in, he couldn’t keep making his mom suffer like this on his account.

"Mom, don’t worry. I’ll go back to work in a few days."

"Mm."

Mrs. Ellsworth left with the bowl, and the door closed softly behind her.

Ethan Ellsworth slowly sat on the edge of the bed, a chill running through him. They had only just begun, only to fall apart so quickly.

He hadn’t even had the chance to truly love her; how could she just slip away from him so easily?

’You idiot, this isn’t April Fool’s Day. Don’t spin a tale like this. And if this is a dream, I pray I wake up soon.’

He lay on the bed.

He closed his eyes.

’I can’t forget her. I can’t erase her.’

「The next morning.」

He got up, changed into clean clothes, and tidied up his haggard appearance.

If not for the bloodshot corners of his eyes, one would never know anything was different.

While he was eating breakfast, the butler came in and asked, "Young Master, there’s a young woman outside who says she’s looking for you."

"Do you know her?"

The butler shook his head. "I’ve never seen her before."

Ethan Ellsworth stood up. "I’ll go see."

Mrs. Ellsworth followed him out to see as well.

Once they were outside the main gate, they saw who the visitor was.

It was Audrey’s sister, Alice.

’He’d already arranged a job for her at the film studio. What did she want, coming here now?’

"What is it?"

Alice seemed a bit nervous. "Young Master Ellsworth, I quit my job over there. Can I work by your side? I can do anything."

Ethan Ellsworth saw her intentions at a glance. "You want to be my assistant?"

"Yes."

"But I’m not hiring assistants anymore. Why don’t you take your salary and fly back to your country."

Alice knelt directly in front of him. "I’m begging you, Young Master Ellsworth. I’ll really do anything. Please give me a chance."

Ethan Ellsworth’s gaze was as placid as water. "Get up first."

Mrs. Ellsworth stepped forward and pulled her up. "Whatever you have to say, say it standing. Don’t just drop to your knees. This isn’t ancient times; we don’t have that sort of etiquette here."

Alice had no choice but to stand up, tears streaming down her face. "I know something happened to Chloe, and I’m very sad too. I just want to help Young Master Ellsworth handle the tedious chores in her place. Besides, Young Master Ellsworth saved my life, and I want to repay his kindness."

Mrs. Ellsworth was a little surprised. "So my son saved you."

"Yes, Ma’am. My sister nearly had me executed. It was Young Master Ellsworth who saved me."

"You poor child. What about your parents?"

"They passed away a long time ago. I tried to stop my sister from doing something illegal, so she imprisoned me and even tried to kill me. If Young Master Ellsworth hadn’t saved me, I honestly don’t know if I’d still be alive today." Her words were sincere, and Mrs. Ellsworth felt even more pity for her.

"Son, that’s enough. Look how pitiful she is. Since she wants to repay your kindness, let her stay and be your assistant. It’ll put my mind at ease to have someone with you all the time."

Ethan Ellsworth warned her, "That’s not impossible. However, while you work for me, you are forbidden from coming within half a meter of me, you are not to enter my room without permission, and you are forbidden from having any ill intentions."

Alice nodded repeatedly. "I won’t."

And just like that, she took Chloe Marshall’s place and became Ethan Ellsworth’s assistant.

’But her goal wasn’t just this simple, external position. It was also Chloe Marshall’s place in Ethan Ellsworth’s heart.’ 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’She was incredibly thankful that something had happened to Chloe Marshall. This gave her an opportunity. Otherwise, she would have been fated to a life of earning a dead-end salary of just one or two thousand a month.’

’Now she had ample opportunity to get close to him. It had to be said, Chloe Marshall couldn’t have disappeared at a better time; it was the perfect opening for her.’

It was snowing. This was the first snow after the New Year.

It was snowing quite heavily.

As a result, the mountains and fields were all painted white.

The weather was so cold it made one shiver uncontrollably.

Chloe Marshall lay on the bed. It seemed this was the only place she could be.

"Can I go out for a walk?"

Silly nodded. Seeing it was inconvenient for her, he put her shoes on for her.

He supported her by the arm, and they slowly walked out of the courtyard. When they reached the spot where the trap was set, he saw that the pitfall had been triggered. He ran over excitedly and shouted to her, "There’s a chicken in here! Wife, you’ll have meat to eat!"

Chloe Marshall was also overjoyed.

’No matter what her life was like before, compared to now, those were all good days.’

’Living like this, even just getting to eat meat was a reason to be happy.’

She sniffled.

"Hurry up and get it out. We can roast it."

He grinned, nodded, and deftly tied a rope to a nearby tree before climbing down.

Chloe Marshall peeked over the edge and saw him climbing back up, holding two chickens.

He said to her, "We’re not going home. Let’s go over there."

Silly pointed to a spot not far away.

Chloe Marshall followed him and found a small river, its surface covered with a thin layer of ice.

By the river was a large, flat rock.

He helped her over to it. He took out a blade he carried with him and gutted the two wild chickens, then washed them clean by the river.

Then he took out some matches and lit the dry firewood that was covered by a plastic bag nearby.

He skewered them with two sticks and began to roast them.

The fire was strong, and as the two of them sat there, they didn’t feel cold at all.

"With no salt or oil, will it taste good?"

"Wife, you’ve never had it. Even without salt or oil, it’s really fragrant when you roast it like this." He was clearly very happy.

Chloe Marshall thought for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Do you guys ever go to the market?"

He shook his head. "I don’t go. My pa always goes to the market. It’s too far from here. It takes a whole day to walk there. Every time my pa buys necessities, he buys a lot, enough to last for a few months."

"Then can you take me to see it someday? I really want to go."

But he refused her outright. "No way. My ma said that if I take you to the market, you’ll run away. And if you run away, not only will I lose my wife, but all three of us will go to jail."

Chloe Marshall was choked with frustration. "My hands and feet are like this. Where could I possibly run?"

’Though, what he said was exactly what she had in mind.’

He paused for a moment, then said, "Well, after you have a baby, Wife, I’ll take you."

A thought flashed through Chloe Marshall’s mind. ’It’s the third day of the Lunar New Year. My period was due a few days ago, but it still hasn’t come. Don’t tell me I got pregnant from that one time? Or is my period just late?’